I do like the ‘ripple effect’ of the sheet metal. I was afraid it was going to be over done or heavy handed but I think BLI pulled it off pretty well. I’ve seen a few smooth-sided sleeping cars with wrinkled sheeting and a little of that wrinkle effect might be OK but like some ‘unintentional’ defects might not come off so well on a finished model.
While I definitely like the Mercury over the Commodore Vanderbilt, the Dreyfuss is still my favorite steamlined locomotive. And I think an unstreamlined Hudson is the most-handsome locomotive, period.
I thought there was a good chance it had been done in brass but there’s no way I would spend that kind of money on one loco and even if I did, I would want factory DCC and sound. I don’t expect we’ll be seeing that any time soon.
I like all my Hudsons but probably my least favorite is the one that came with the Cardinal Train set because the body is just a generic steamer
Most of my locomotive acquisitions in the past 7-8 years have been “used” unpainted NYC brass. And nearly all of them would be considered new or nearly new cosmetically. This has allowed me to expand my NYC roster with unique models that will most likely NEVER be released in plastic - e.g. NE-2g 2-6-6-2 Mallet, H-10a Mikado, M-1 0-10-0 switcher, and F-12e 4-6-0.
Most have operated very well right out of the box and I’ve installed DCC and lighting in all but the Mikado. The mallet I installed a Lok 5 decocer & two speakers in the boiler and it sounds great. The 0-10-0 and the 4-6-0 have motor-only decoders. I hope to paint them at some point in the future but may just enjoy them unpainted, as is.
Ed, Tom, my comparison was restricted to the Commodore Vanderbilt versus the Blue Goose. And I agree with Tom that an unstreamlined Hudson looks better than both. 20 years ago Glacier Park did an amazing brass model of the unstreamlined sisters of the Blue Goose. I got one of them for a reasonable price, and in reality it looks even better than on the pics. Unexpectedly for a brass model with this attention to detail, it takes 22" curves easily.
The Mercury engines were later assigned to the James Whitcomb Riley and given some neat-looking red accent colors.
On a side note, I’ve always been fascinated by the ‘flood-lighted’ running gear of the Mercury locomotives. While I find no evidence of any such lighting on the Commodore Vanderbilt 5344, looking at my BLI engine it sure would be a simple task to apply a couple LEDs under the shroud, perhaps in a light blue color?
Easy enough to wire them to an unused function so I could extinguish the lights if the ‘prototype police’ ever visit [8-|]
Thanks for the heads up. I think I’ll let some other lucky NYC fan take it home. [;)] I’d be concerned about that trailing truck shorting on the shroud. As it is I have a bit of a backlog of brass engines waiting for rework, including a K-5 that I might just letter for the 4915 or 4917 just for kicks.
For some older brass (pre-'80s) I would agree; my brass NE-2g 2-6-6-2 (ca. 1978) being an exception. Brass from the late 80s on, however, had some exceptional detailing. My H-10a Mike, F-12e 4-6-0, and U-3a 0-8-0 is a testament to that.
CPR_4-6-4 by Edmund, on Flickr
http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/prr8012.jpg
